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What was the role of Mahatma Gandhi in freedom struggle in India. Give a short note on it. |
| Answer» Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from Africa in January 1915.\xa0Satyagraha\xa0was his novel method of mass agitation.\xa0The idea of satyagraha emphasised the power of truth and the need to search for truth.\xa0After arriving in India, Mahatma Gandhi successfully organised satyagraha movements in various places, like -\xa0Champaran, Kheda and\xa0Ahmedabad, for different causes. These were successful and\xa0emboldened with this success, Gandhiji in 1919 decided to launch a nationwide satyagraha against the proposed Rowlatt Act (1919).\xa0Mahatma Gandhi wanted\xa0non-violent civil disobedience against such unjust laws, which would start with a hartal\xa0(strike) on 6 April.\xa0On 13 April the infamous Jallianwalla Bagh incident took place.\xa0As the news of Jallianwalla Bagh spread, crowds took to the streets in many north Indian towns. There were strikes, clashes with the police and attacks on government buildings. The government responded with brutal repression.\xa0Seeing violence spread, Mahatma Gandhi called off the movement.\xa0He then launched\xa0a more broad-based movement in India, in\xa01920 he and Shaukat Ali toured extensively to mobilise popular support for the movement.\xa0At the Congress session at Nagpur in December 1920\xa0the Non-Cooperation programme was adopted.\xa0The Non-Cooperation-Khilafat Movement began in January 1921.\xa0In February 1922, Mahatma Gandhi decided to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement following the Chauri Chaura incident.\xa0Mahatma Gandhi found in salt a powerful symbol that could unite the nation. On 31 January 1930, he sent a letter to Viceroy Irwin stating eleven demands.\xa0Mahatma Gandhi’s letter was, in a way, an ultimatum. If the demands were not fulfilled by 11 March, the letter stated, the Congress would launch a civil disobedience campaign. Gandhiji began his famous Salt March from Sabarmati to the Gujarati coastal town of Dandi, where he reached on 6 April and ceremonially violated the law.\xa0The colonial government began arresting the Congress leaders one by one. This led to violent clashes in many palaces.\xa0Mahatma Gandhi once again decided to call off the movement and entered into a pact with Irwin on 5 March 1931. By this pact\xa0Gandhiji consented to participate in a Round Table Conference\xa0in London and the government agreed to release the political prisoners.\xa0Mahatma Gandhi relaunched the Civil Disobedience Movement. For over a year, the movement continued, but by 1934 it lost its momentum. Gandhiji called for elimination of untouchability. He was against\xa0separate electorates for dalits.\xa0He believed that separate electorates for dalits would slow down the process of their integration into society. His proposal was accepted in Poona Pact of September 1932 and dalits\xa0were given reservation.\xa0The Congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi tried to channel people’s grievances into organised movements for independence. | |